We leave for Hawaii in just over a month (March 7th to be exact) and I’ll be the first to admit, I’ve been in a bit of a work-out ‘rut’ lately. I’ve just had no desire or motivation to do anything.
The weather is NEVER good, and I hate the treadmill!
With Kyle becoming a Toddler, working out during the day is mostly out of the question (although I could probably go for a jog with him in our running stroller or workout while he’s sleeping or exercise while my parents are watching him… ok, ok stop judging; remember the whole part about me being in a rut!) By the time my husband gets home from work, working out is prioritized right after eating, cleaning, resting, reading, and watching 100 of my favourite mind provoking / intelligent educational programs*.
Last year around this time I was working my butt off. I wanted to lose the extra 10-pounds that I wasn’t shedding post pregnancy, even though I was promised it would go away if I breastfed. I joined a mom’s workout class, fitmom (https://www.fitmommagazine.com/fitmomcanada/dev/), and I even went to a boot-camp class (http://fitfactoryfitness.com/) taught by a former U.S. Marines Corps Drill Instructor Sargeant (hardcore, I know!). I mean, the instructor even had a shirt that said “your workout is my warmup“. Here comes some bragging…I was in the best shape ever and as strong as could be. I was able to do over 20 (regular, no knees on the floor) push-ups and could hold the plank position for over 2 minutes. I was going strong until July at which point I decided to stop because I was going to be spending a lot of time at the cottage and we were planning a family vacation to Europe in August. However, plans changed and we didn’t go away, I also never returned to working out.
My husband, who is a work-out fanatic, who just needs to walk 5 steps in order to lose weight, has not-so-subtly, been hinting to me that I should try to lose some weight for our upcoming trip. Now before you go all crazy on him and demand that I divorce him, he says it with the best intentions through comments like “I might go for a run tonight, want to join?”. Running at night! Impossible? Or, “I think I’ll go for a run tomorrow (Saturday), want to join?” Running on the weekend! Ridiculous! I know I know, how does he come up with these unreasonable suggestions? My husband though also knows that I care about myself and how I look (ahem, in a bikini), and he’s just trying to “push” me in the right directions, which I’ve instructed him to do several times in the past. The thing is… I NEED TO BE PUSHED! 
I’m just not a self motivator. And therefore, I need some motivation. And alas, Hawaii is my motivation. Well that, and another girl who is also going to Hawaii who keeps posting on Facebook all of her workouts to get “Hawaii ready”. Well, here’s the thing… I’m pretty shallow and I also want to be “Hawaii ready”!!!
So what I’m getting at is that I’m finally motivated enough to start doing something about it. And it’s about time since I don’t have that much time on my hand (46 days to be exact). I have trained for a half marathon in less time, so I can probably do this, right?I’m not going to focus on the weight loss, but rather, I want to tone my (non-existing) abs and lose some tummy weight. I will keep track of my progress on a daily basis, and post my results on a weekly basis, along with my diet and a few of the exercises that I’ve been doing. 
I’m sure there are others who want to lose some excess fat before March break, and hey, if I can do it, you can do it too! Maybe we can work-out together via cyber-space?!
I’d also love to hear from you. Have you done something similar to this just a month or so before a big holiday? If so, were you successful? Any hints / tips? Favourite exercise? What gets you motivated? I really need the support as you can tell!
Anyway, wish me luck! I’m off for a run…. well not quite yet, I can always start tomorrow 🙂 
*Sometimes also referred to as Reality TV.
Related articles
- Goal Making (theskinnymanifesto.wordpress.com)
- Move It or Lose It! How to Motivate a Lazy Friend to Exercise (fitsugar.com)
Good job bb! Suggest doing the mike bear 47 day challenge: some sort of exercise every day between now and when u leave. 2x a week u can do a 30 min walk. Since everyday maybe not possible with kyle – u can miss 1 day a week but have to do 10 min extra of whatever you doing the next day.
Also – only eat out once per week and no dessert!
Oh and workout-a-fanatic? seems a bit extreme 🙂
Great post Maya! Although, I think you always look awesome! Reading this at 2:45am after stuffing myself with food and drinks… Maybe I will be working out tomorrow too 🙂
Good luck on your run!
Hi Maya, Thanks for stopping in–gives me a chance to meet other bloggers. You’re tike is beautiful and so well traveled–good for you! PS love the “I hate treadmill” sentiment. Dune trails for me. Blessings, Barb
How about we pick at least one day that we can’t make excuses to get on our treadmills and write about it the day after, picture for proof. Then you’re on your own for the rest of the week. Waddya say? You know, so we’re accountable across cyberspace.
That is a pretty good idea actually!! I have to say, I’ve started this week with a bang though (surpisingly). I went running outside (yes, outside in Toronto) for the past 3 days and have ran a total of 8 miles so far. I just hope I’m not setting myself up for disappointment. I hope I can keep it up for 6 weeks!!! Thanks for getting me motivated. As soon as I’m back down to no-runs, I’ll hit you up for the treadmill suggestion. Good-luck in your work-out.
I joined a Zumba class recently. It was fun but didn’t really doing anything for me (baby flab wise). Just got Mari Winsor’s slim Pilate today. We’ll see if it works or not! Good luck with your routine!
My sister-in-law (who is expecting her 4th child this March) swears by Zumba. I’m too uncoordinated to do that I think. I heard Pilate’s amazing! I hope that works better for you. Thanks for the support 🙂
Great Post! 🙂 And hey, thanks for liking my blog!
Hey, I like the sound of cyber-space work-outs.
Think we’re on to some business idea here???
Definitely!
Here’s one way – I did the Master Cleanse one year as a detox – it’s the lemonade and maple syrup drink thing. I started at 202, got down to 183 in 10 days. In a few days after I went off, I gained 5 back, so the net loss was about 15 pounds in 15 days. The first few days are tough but I had, surprisingly, a ton of energy. I don’t know how healthy it is to do this more than annually, but as a one-time thing it’s an option.
Here’s a better way – I’ve been doing Pure Barre regularly and you’ll see a difference in 2 weeks. I”m not sure if they have any locations by you, but they do have DVDs. New mothers swear by it. For me, it gave me a ton of definition, flexibility, and helped with my golf game. They have a WordPress blog so you can get some info there. It’s a combination of pilates/ballet workout so there may be something similar in your town if they don’t have a location.
Best of luck!!
Thanks for the info. I’m not sure I can commit to any pure detox. I’m just not strong like that and I love food too much!!! haha. I am intrigued by the Pure Barre exercise you mentioned. I’ll def. look into that. I can’t say I’ve heard of it before but would be interesting to see if there is anything my area. I love the information. Thanks for stopping by 🙂 And congrats on your weight loss!!!